Dear Tucsonans and Arizonians

On behalf of the Tucson Buffalo Soldier Monument Committee, I would like to invite you to join us as we begin to raise funds to establish a Buffalo Soldier Monument here in the city of Tucson. We need your help to raise the funds needed to build this Monument. The project will cost about $1,000,000 to complete. We have asked the city of Tucson to give us an appropriate place to exhibit the monument, and have proposed to the city that it be located just north of the Quincie Douglas Library on Kino Parkway just north of 36^TH Street.

The monument will require an area of about (60’ X 100’) sixty by one hundred feet. We have commissioned an artist, to render a drawing for our proposed monument. Famed Artist and Sculptor, Ed Dwight has been commissioned to design and build the monument for us, and we are presently working with him on a model for the design of monument.

Our committee, Tucson Buffalo Soldier Monument Committee, formed in November of 2006 and is now registered with the State and Federal Government as a non-profit fundraising organization for the purpose of building the Buffalo Soldier Monument. We have an established bank account, P.O. Box, web site, and e-mail address for the committee.

Our next fundraising activity will be on October 17, 2008 at the Buffalo Soldiers Banquet. We are asking each person or family for a one-time donation of $250.00 to help us raise the funds for the project. If we can get 4,000 donations of $250, we would have raised the needed funds necessary to complete the project.

The Buffalo Soldier Monument Committee Banquet will be held

17 October 2008

7:00 PM

Inn Suite Hotel

Tucson Ballroom

475 E. Granada Ave. Tucson, AZ 85705.

Please save the date

We in the Tucson Buffalo Soldier Monument Committee believe this can be done without the help of government or large corporations, but we need those of you who can to send us a donation. We realize not everyone will be able to give a $250 donation; therefore, a donation of at least $25 will provide us the necessary funds to print materials and promote the monument. Our goal is to have all the funds in place for the monument by June of 2008. Prior to that, we will have a public showing and banquet where we will unveil final plans for the monument.

We in the Tucson Buffalo Soldier Monument Committee sincerely believe that a monument such as the one that we are proposing would greatly benefit Tucson’s economy, while at the same time honor the brave Americans who protected and served on the western frontier of our great nation for many years.

Please support this project. Our objective is to provide a monument the entire community can be proud for many years to come.

Sincerely,

Sammie Parker, Chairman

Tucson Buffalo Soldier Monument Committee

INFORMATION ABOUT ED DWIGHT

Mr. Dwight is a man of many outstanding accomplishments which include:

· former Air Force Test Pilot

· America's first African American Astronaut Trainee

· computer systems engineer

· aviation consultant

· restaurateur

· real estate developer

· construction entrepreneur

He can best be described as embracing all aspects of the true "renaissance man".

At first glance, it should be noted that Mr. Dwight has been extremely successful in many areas throughout the years. However, for the last twenty-five years he has focused creative attention in the areas of fine art and sculpture projects. His first serious artistic undertaking began with a commission to create a sculpture in 1976. Since that time, he has become “one of the most prolific and insightful sculptors in America.”

George Brown, Colorado's first Black Lt. Governor was the subject of his first commission. As a direct consequence of the artistic impact of his first project, the Colorado Centennial Commission soon commissioned Mr. Dwight to create a series of bronzes entitled "Black Frontier Spirit in the American West". This series of fine sculptures depicted the contributions African Americans made to the opening of the American West.

As you are well aware, very few facts were written about the Black pioneers, explorers, trappers, farmers or soldiers. Mr. Dwight, using his unique artistic style and skills, has opened the minds of numerous viewers to the heretofore forgotten history of the American West. The series of 30 bronzes was on exhibit for several years throughout the U.S., and gained wide acceptance and critical acclaim. Accordingly, he has been inundated with public art projects throughout the country.

In 2001, he unveiled four major monuments including the first Bi-National Monuments in Detroit, Michigan and Windsor, Canada. This project was dedicated to the International Underground Railroad Movement. Other projects for which he is noted is the African American History Monument on the Capitol Grounds in Columbia, South Carolina, and a memorial to George Washington Williams, the first Black legislator in Ohio. The Williams monument was installed in the State Capitol in Columbus, OH.

For more information, visit www.eddwight.com/about_eddwight/index.htm.

We sincerely believe that a public arts project such as the one that we are proposing would be greatly beneficial for the economy of Tucson while simultaneously honoring those brave Americans who protected and served for so many years on the western frontiers of our great nation.